Fort Bliss bunker a relic of race for nuclear supremacy

Fort Bliss officials walk at the closed off entrance to bunker 11507 in a remote section of Biggs Army Airfield where low levels of radioactivity was detected. The bunker, built in the late 1940's was used to store nuclear weapons during the Cold War era.

From the edge of civilization on Railroad Drive, the Snake Pit at Biggs Airfield looks like nine useless sand hills surrounded by a junkyard of trailers.

Until recently, not many El Pasoans knew the bunkers, which were used to store weapons used during training exercises, even existed.

Even fewer knew that during the 1950s and 1960s, these camouflaged bunkers housed some of America's top-guarded secrets.

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Aaron Bracamontes

"It was tough to keep that secret," said Hollis Skipper, a retired Air Force veteran who used to maintain nuclear bombs in the bunkers. "Some nights you would even be talking in your sleep and your wife wouldn't know what you were talking about."

The bunkers were a classified part of the country's arms race during a time when the U.S. was engaged in a standoff with the Soviet Union and mutually assured destruction was at one point assumed to be just two minutes away, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists' Doomsday Clock.

"We were on a very high level of alert as a result of the U2 Spy plane being shot down and the Cuban Missile Crisis," said Gaspare Genna, a political science professor at the University of Texas at El Paso and expert on European union politics. "That was the pinnacle of tension between the two mega-powers that never really went against each other."

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The role the bunkers played in the Cold War was hidden from most El Pasoans and Fort Bliss soldiers until two months ago, when a retired Air Force veteran feared that the government would build houses where radioactive containers were buried.

Fort Bliss officials said the unnamed veteran told the Air Force Safety Office that he worked with unsealed nuclear weapons while at Biggs.

That tip spurred Fort Bliss officials to seal off one bunker after radiation was detected. The Army Environmental Health Command and other agencies are still investigating the area nicknamed the Snake Pit.

On Friday, Fort Bliss spokesman Maj. Joe Buccino announced that initial testing showed that alpha and beta radiation was found and kept to the floor of the bunker, which the Air Force had painted with epoxy paint to seal radioactive particles.

Those test results showed that El Paso residents, soldiers and anyone else who had contact with the bunker should not be in any danger.

Even though there may be no health hazard at the bunker, the recent developments have revealed a secret more than 60 years old.

History in the desert

The bunkers, which are each about 300 square feet, were built in the late 1940s, near the beginning of the Cold War.

Following the end of World War II, the U.S. and the Soviet Union began loading up on weapons of mass destruction as a way to deter each other from attacking.

Until 1966, Biggs Airfield was a part of the Air Force's Strategic Air Command, which oversaw the nuclear weapons program.

Skipper, 77, was stationed at Biggs from 1955 to 1958. He remembers the first time he saw one of the bombs and the complete system that came with it.

"Once you got into that system, you said, 'Wow, what am I doing here. This is something I only hear about in science fiction,'" Skipper said. "It was unbelievable. You had to memorize everything. If you took note it would be taken away as classified."

Skipper worked so close to the weapons that he had to wear a monitor that made sure he was not hurt by the radiation.

"We maintained the weapons system and took care of them," Skipper said. "You needed top secret clearance to know about them back then."

Fred Griffin, 76, spent eight years in the Air Force and was stationed at Biggs in 1956. He was one of 20 men who patrolled the bunkers at night with guard dogs.

"We knew what was there and what we were there to do," Griffin said. "We were there to provide security against terrorists and other threats. But we never had any problems."

Griffin said the news of the bunkers being investigated for radioactivity brought back memories of his nights in the desert with his dog, Casper.

"We would bond very much with those dogs after an eight hour night shift," Griffin said. "I had even gone out to see the dog kennels a few years ago."

The kennels are still located close to the bunkers.

Genna said the desert scenery and climate of El Paso made Biggs an ideal location for the military to hide the weapons.

"Most of those things were in isolated areas," Genna said. "Given the remoteness of this area at the time it was not surprising that they were located at Biggs."

As a part of its defense, the U.S. created a nuclear triad strategy, which required land missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and bomber planes around the country to be ready to attack at any moment, Genna said.

Biggs was probably one of many airfields around the country that had nuclear weapons, Genna said.

"B-52 bombers were always in the air," Genna said. "As soon as one of them landed another one would be up in the air."

Skipper remembers being ready to load the bombs up at all times.

"You had to be alert and ready at any second," Skipper said. "At any moment, I had 15 minutes to have the bombers in the air."

That was the norm at the time, so that routines couldn't be studied or predicted, Genna said. "Pilots back then didn't know their flight path until they were up in the sky."

Burying the secret

In 1966, the Air Force moved out of Biggs and turned control of the airfield to the Army.

Genna said he assumes that when the bombs were removed from Biggs, they were probably secretly moved to another airfield.

"Since the Cuban Missile Crisis and the shooting down of the U2 plane, America has never been in a low state of alert," Genna said. "It would not be out of the realm of possibility that they were moving things around."

Army officials believe that materials containing radioactive residue, such as rags and other items used to clear or work on the nuclear weapons, were buried in sealed containers about 12 to 18 inches below ground.

The ground of the bunker was painted by the Air Force with epoxy paint to seal in contaminants. The whole procedure was the proper way to bury the materials at the time, Buccino said.

Skipper said he knew that some materials were buried around the bunker area.

"We had specialists that handled the radioactive barrels," Skipper said. "They are buried in several locations within that confined area."

The current Fort Bliss leadership was not aware of the bunkers' history of housing nuclear weapons or hazardous material before the issue was raised two months ago, Buccino said.

Frank Thompson, a retired Army veteran and El Paso Times employee, said he was stationed on Fort Bliss when it took over Biggs Airfield.

"We didn't know anything about any of that," Thompson said. "Of course, we were the low man on the totem pole. So its possible we weren't supposed to know."

Thompson remembered training in the desert surround Biggs and said he never came across anything that looked like a bunker.

"I was trying to figure out where the bunkers were and I couldn't remember seeing any," Thompson said. "We didn't think there were ever nuclear weapons out there."

Nuclear secrets between branches of the military were not uncommon during those times, Genna said.

The weapons locations were a matter of national security, so it didn't surprise Genna that Air Force officials would have not told Army officials that there was nuclear residue in containers around the bunkers.

"All these things were on a need to know basis," Genna said.

Buccino said Army Environmental Health Command would continue to search for those containers if they exist. If they are found, they will be marked and fenced off until further action can be taken.

Fort Bliss officials said they have not set a timetable for the investigation to conclude.

Barbecues at the bunker

The bunkers became just another part of the Biggs and Fort Bliss as time went on. Most recently, they have been used as weapons storage for training exercises.

In the 1970s, they were used a little more recreationally -- at least by some soldiers.

El Paso County Sports Commissioner Brian Kennedy, a retired Army veteran who was stationed at Fort Bliss from 1976 to 1978, said a group of soldiers, including him, would go between the bunkers for some late night barbecuing.

"Everybody always said those buildings were hot," Kennedy said. "We didn't have any facts or anything in writing. We were just always told, 'Don't go in that building.' "

It was an easy way to go out and have fun on a Friday night. The area was secluded and the bunkers provided cover.

"We used to joke that if you forgot lighter fluid you could just put the meat against the bunker to cook it," Kennedy said. "When I heard the news I thought, 'Hey, I guess all those rumors were true.' "

Kennedy said he wasn't worried about any radioactivity. He figures that after all these years he is in the clear.

"I think I am fine," Kennedy said. "I was 20 years old at the time, and I thought I was bulletproof. But if it affected me, I'm sure I would have known by now."

Just because the bombs were gone from Biggs, it didn't mean the Cold War was over.

Genna said he went to school during the 1970s and the threat of nuclear war was an everyday topic.

"My teacher told me that I wouldn't live past 30 because we were all going to be wiped out," Genna said.

Growing up in that environment, along with an interest in politics, is part of what helped Genna choose his career path.

The Cold War came to an end in 1991 when the Soviet Union disbanded.

Genna said that once the Soviet Union's military secrets and weapons were exposed, it made the years of fear and preparation for a counter-strike almost laughable.

"It wasn't until after the Cold War when we got a chance to look at what they had did we realize their capabilities were so poor," Genna said. "It was a paper target. It looked menacing and we thought it was menacing, but it was all built on a house of cards."

Aaron Bracamontes may be reached at abracamontes@elpasotimes.com; 546-6156. Follow him on Twitter @AaronBrac

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